AnyWare Group Launches Disaster Preparedness Solution

Secure remote access to essential applications and information is integral to pandemic preparedness and business continuity initiatives for healthcare facilities
(September 09, 2009)

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 09/09/09 -- With growing concern about the rapid spread of the H1N1 virus as students return to school and as the fall flu season quickly approaches, pandemic preparedness and business continuity have become urgent priorities for healthcare providers. AnyWare Group Inc., a provider of remote access solutions for hospitals and healthcare facilities, today launched its ROAM Disaster Preparedness solution to support and enable pandemic planning initiatives for the healthcare sector. When physical access to a facility has been restricted, this AnyWare Group solution allows healthcare professionals, first responders and others to remotely access essential applications and vital information from any device (e.g., PCs, Macs, PDAs).

As a managed service, the AnyWare Group Disaster Preparedness solution can be implemented within days without incurring capital costs for hardware and software, including related license agreements. With this ROAM solution, there are no monthly billing fees until the service is used to provide remote access to staff in the case of an emergency or pandemic.

"Lessons learned from SARS as well as other isolated incidents of facility closures due to disease outbreaks, reinforce that secure and timely remote access should be an integral component of any pandemic planning program for hospitals and healthcare facilities," says J.R. Dick, Director, I.T. at Quinte Health Care. AnyWare Group's ROAM solution is used by Quinte Health Care to provide healthcare workers with remote access to critical applications and ensure ongoing business continuity.

Once AnyWare Group's Disaster Preparedness solution has been implemented, it can be expanded to an organization's entire staff within minutes, ensuring staff gain immediate access to critical applications at a moment's notice. Its Single Sign-On (SSO) capabilities ensure that all applications can be easily accessed without having to remember numerous passwords. AnyWare Group also provides a role-based access mechanism that determines which applications each person can use.

"Easy and secure access to information and resources - especially in pandemic situations where facility access may be limited - is vital to a healthcare provider's ability to deliver continuity in patient care," says Robert Lalonde, CEO of AnyWare Group. "Our fully managed solution is affordable and easy to implement and ensures that healthcare workers can easily and securely access resources in times of need. It's an ideal solution as part of any healthcare provider's emergency preparedness toolkit."

- No monthly billing fees until ROAM is used in the case of an emergency, pandemic or other situation where remote access is required.

Greg Onoprijenko, Managing Director at E-ternity Business Continuity Consultants Inc., says healthcare organizations should have processes in place to provide employees with access to systems and resources in case of a physical facility lockdown for an indefinite period of time. "Communications systems should be routed and managed externally from the facility. Traditional disaster planning has focused on recovery of data and IT systems. There is recognition today that the biggest challenge is the recovery of work processes. An organization's ability to restore operations while protecting its workers will be how its recovery plan will ultimately be measured," explains Onoprijenko.

During the time of an outbreak, there should also be reduced contact between employees. According to Dick, the dilemma hospitals and other vital services have is the need for "all hands on deck" to perform their duties. "Knowledge workers can certainly work from home and it benefits all organizations to enable non-essential workers to work from home, especially if they show mild symptoms." He adds that another issue facing organizations is having the correct staffing levels. This is of particular concern when staff may have to look after their children, elderly family members or others who are sick at home.

AnyWare Group is the leading remote access solution provider for hospitals and healthcare organizations. AnyWare Group's award-winning ROAM Platform enables clientless remote access to all applications from any device (PCs and Macs) without requiring the management of users' computers. Through the ROAM portal, organizations present all relevant applications to authorized users, when and where required. More information is available at www.AnyWareGroup.com.